“So, then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17)

10- “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
11-Take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:10-11).

Acts 28:1-6--(verse 3), “And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. (verse 5)- And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.”

All of the armor is important but God told us to especially “take up the shield of faith, and that is what we’re talking about. We will only be able to stand by His grace, in the strength of our faith. Paul had faith in God, and he stood in that faith when he shook off the viper as though it was nothing. Our faith will only be as strong as the word of God we store in abundance in our spirits.

Jesus said, “...for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matt.12:34).

Our faith is strengthened as our inner-man is constantly fed the Word of God. It’s called ‘spiritual strength,’ which is another way of saying ‘faith.’ No word=no faith=no strength to stand. This means that our shield of faith is not in proper place, and if its not, we won’t be able to shake off the things the devil tries to attach to us. This is why, we need to take up (if its down) our shield of faith so that we’re properly dressed in the armor of God. Amen.

The truth is, we can only rise up by His mighty power, not in our own strength and not in the pride of our minds. That is a type of rising up, thus, you’ve heard the saying, “what goes up must come down.” When we get hit with discouragement because our faith shield was let down, we sink quickly. Then, after a while, because we sense the Holy Spirit urging us to rise, we say to ourselves, “I’ve got to rise up out of this.” This means, that we’re down, as it were, in a hole, and we’re saying, “I’ve got to...” We’ve got our part to do and the first important thing we’re to do is choose to rise up in faith. Making a positive choice by faith to get up out of that place of defeat gives God something to work with.

Then,we need to humble ourselves in prayer and say,

“Father God, I’m totally helpless without You. I’m helpless without your grace to enable me to rise so I can stand in strength on your word. I call upon Your mercy and Your power today. I call upon Your Holy Spirit to help me shake off everything the devil has tried to put on me and rise so I can stand stronger in faith by your grace. I choose to put on the garment of praise and declare that “The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want (I lack for nothing--Psalm 23). I thank You and give You praise for all You‘ve done for me, all You‘re doing in my life now, and I praise and thank You for all You‘re going to do in the coming days ahead. Amen.”

God is our source for everything. HE’S our strength. Without the strength and power of God’s Spirit and His Word, mixed with out faith, we will not be able to stand. Without the strength of His power and His grace, we will most definitely fall. And where do we fall? We fall into a hole of discouragement, depression, self-pity, anger (at God), lose of hope, etc.

ARISE! GET UP!

You’ve heard the expression; “You’ve got to pull yourself up by your boot-straps,” which implies that its by our power that we must get up. Again, we have our part to do in rising up. The Holy Spirit is not going to come along and drag us out of our comfy chair and say, “Come on now, get up. I know you can do it. Just take one little step for Me.” It’s by HIS power that we’re able to do anything.

Jesus said, “...Apart from Me, you can do nothing...” (John 15:5).
Nothing means what it says---absolutely nothing!

Have you ever noticed in reading the New Testament how many people Jesus spoke to and said, “ARISE “(get up) to? Quite a few. Do you know, He’s still saying that today? He’s still saying to you and I personally and to the Church today, “ARISE! Get up!”

Responsibility:

Its our responsibility to get into God’s Word and trust Him to speak a rhema word to us. Its our responsibility to pray and humble ourselves before Him. It’s our responsibility to make righteous choices that are in line with God’s character and His Word. We’re to do all that faith requires us to do, while depending on God’s enabling grace to help us to stand on His Word. I know you get tired of standing sometimes. I do too. Even though that may be true, you have to realize that the Bible doesn’t say, “if you’re tired of standing, sit down a while.” It tells us:

“...having done all to stand, stand therefore...” (Eph.6:13-14). You need to read the whole 6th chapter of Ephesians for yourself and let the Holy Spirit reveal some things to you personally.
In the meantime, we can’t afford to remain in discouragement, depression, hope deferred, etc. in this hour of the Church. We MUST ‘arise’ so as not to miss out on being a part of what God is doing and going to do in the earth in the latter days we’re living in. Hallelujah!

Many times, we rise up in the pride of our minds, which is a false sense of strength that doesn’t have anything to do with Bible faith whatsoever. Real Bible faith is “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). Through the determination of our minds we say, “devil, I will not stand for you harrassing me anymore. I will not tolerate this hindrance any more!” The “I will not’s” sound all too familiar. Satan said, “I will ascend above the throne of the most high God.”

Those independent “I will’s” that was born out of pride got him kicked out of heaven. The rising up of his heart caused his down fall. As children of the most high God, there is a “going down” in humility before there is a “rising up” in victory. This is the very opposite of the way the world’s system works, but it’s God’s way. Jesus said, “I Am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE...” (John 14:6).

Its not wrong to tell the devil what he can’t do to us as blood washed children of almighty God, but our attitude must be one of humility. To do so, our words must be based on what God has said in His Word that we’re to say in ‘resisting the devil’ (James 4:6-7). Jesus said to the devil in the wilderness, “It is written...” He spoke what His Father had already spoken. When we do as Jesus did as our example, we don’t run the risk of being in pride and operating in the flesh.

You have to remember that satan is a ‘flesh’ devil and he operates by our emotions and our five senses. It gives him opportunity to attack when we’re speaking pridefully or fearfully in unbelief, etc. If he can get us to move in the flesh then he can have a field day with us and not have to listen and obey anything that comes out of our mouth. Why? Because, by this time, we’re mainly speaking our words by fear and frustration, not those that God has spoken in faith.

Satan only has to obey God’s word and the name of Jesus. There is NO power or authority in our name that evil spirits recognize have to obey. It’s only in the NAME of JESUS that satan backs up and retreats. Jesus said in the wilderness that (paraphrase),...“man is to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Luke 4:4). Did you ever stop to think about it, that the devil is required to live by God’s word also? How? By you and I speaking God’s word in the name of Jesus. Satan HAS to obey the word of God.

By the prophetic word God has spoken over him since the garden (Gen.3:14-15), Jesus came and that part of the prophetic word was fulfilled. But one day, Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, will have him thrown into the “lake of fire” at the end of the age where he will be forever. Amen! Praise God! Let that comfort your hearts. Hallelujah!

SHAKE IT OFF:

When Jesus came to this earth, He was God Himself wrapped up in human flesh (John 1:14). He came to walk this earth as we do. He grew in faith by the scriptures the same way we are to, “So then, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”(Romans 10:17). Jesus had plenty of opportunities to get discouraged and depressed, but He chose not to take those opportunities. The question is, why do we? If we truly believe that He’s the WAY and He‘s our example, then we’re required to follow what He did. Like a smothering blanket, He threw discouragement, etc. off of him by the Word and the power of God.

We can’t ignore the fact that He told us, “Follow Me.” In light of that, its time that we start doing by faith what He did. When satan tries to throw that smothering blanket of discouragement, depression, self-pity, complaining, criticism, etc., over us, we need to rise up in faith and in the power of the Spirit and throw it off. If we don‘t, we won’t be able to see where we’re suppose to be going in the plan God has for our individual lives and for the corporate Church. Amen.

When you’re under the heaviness of oppression and discouragement, discernment is muffled; you can’t hear the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly. You become disoriented and lose your sense of direction in following God’s will for your life. You lose hope and vision. It’s vital that we throw off this smothering blanket of discouragement, etc. that the enemy keeps trying to throw over us as God’s people.

It’s time to sharpen our discernment by the Word of God and recognize the devil’s stragedies to destroy us. Its time to shake them off just as Paul shook off the serpent that attached itself to him from out of the fire. He just shook it off and went on about his business of building a fire. Hallelujah! It’s time for us to do the same. It’s time for us to “shake it off.” Its time for us to throw off everything that serves to hinder us from going forward to fulfull our purpose and destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus. Hallelujah!

DECLARATION & PRAYER:

Why don’t you make this declaration with me today by faith and give God something to work with so He can bring about good change in your life?

I declare this day to take my stand on the Word of God against the devil bringing confusion to my life and family. Dressed in the whole armor of God, I lift my shield of faith whereby I will be able to quench every firy dart of the enemy.

I declare this day and choose to consistently feed my spirit God’s word so that I grow in spiritual strength and in discernment. For out of the abundance of my heart, my mouth will speak only His words---‘it is written.’ I realize that apart from You, Jesus, I can do nothing, but by your anointing, you enable me to do all that you’ve called me to do. Its your anointing that transforms my “can’t” to “can,” and I thank you for that.

I declare this day that by God’s grace and my faith in His Word, I will be able to “shake off” all the old things the devil has kept me in bondage with. Plus, everything else that he’s used against me to hinder me from greater levels of the presense and life of God. It’s by your Holy Spirit that I will be able to “shake off” those smothering blankets of oppression, discouragement, self-pity, anger and disappointment.

I choose this day to put on the “garment of praise” in place of the devil’s smothering blanket. With an attitude of humility, thanksgiving, faith and obedience, I thank you for the open doors of opportunity to reach outside myself and to reach deep within to the love and anointing you’ve deposited in me, to help someone else who needs to “shake it off” and arise today to receive a fresh touch from your Spirit. I give you praise, honor and glory, in Jesus name, amen.

Plain As Day Ministries

Shirley Williams

[all scripture is from KJV]

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Shirley Williams or search for articles on the same topic or others.